Release date: June 1971
Label: Bronze Records
Production: Gerry Bron, Jon Hiseman and Colosseum
Length: 73:48
Genre: progressive rock / jazz rock fusion / blues rock
Rating: 9/10
“Colosseum Live” was the first official live document from the English prog rock pioneers Colosseum, a band best known for their groundbreaking work blending blues rock, jazz fusion and early progressive rock. The concert recording, which turned out to be one of the most beloved albums in the band’s history, was captured at two different venues during the “Daughter of Time” (1970) tour, in Manchester and Brighton. The charismatic singer Chris Farlowe was at the peak of his vocal powers and wowed with his vocal acrobatics from start to finish of this dynamic, high-energy live collection. He shone on the new stuff, like the improv-laced jazz rock fusion bombs “Skellington” and “Tanglewood ’63”, just as much as on the older, bluesier evergreens: “Rope Ladder to the Moon”, the cover of Bond’s “Walking in the Park”, “Stormy Monday Blues”, the extended version of the classic “Lost Angeles” and “I Can’t Live Without You”. That last one only appeared as a bonus track on the CD version of “Colosseum Live”.
Interestingly, there’s no “Daughter of Time” material among the “Colosseum Live” performances, and their epic magnum opus “Valentyne Suite” is missing too, even though Dave Greenslade was in superb form on the organ the whole way through. The band that recorded “Colosseum Live” — besides Farlowe and Greenslade, it featured the drumming powerhouse Jon Hiseman, guitar virtuoso Clem Clempson, outstanding bassist Mark Clarke and versatile saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith — came to be seen as the classic, definitive version of Colosseum. The whole band was at the height of their live powers on “Colosseum Live”, and listening to the individual performances, you’d never guess they were just about to fall apart.
“Colosseum Live” is the essential live document of the cult prog rock pioneers and still one of the best windows into their sound and work, even though it left out “Valentyne Suite” and a few other fan favorites. Not long after “Colosseum Live” came out in 1971, Colosseum called it quits for twenty-three years. Hiseman and Heckstall-Smith formed Tempest, Clempson went off to Humble Pie, Greenslade and Tony Reeves started Greenslade, Farlowe joined Atomic Rooster and Mark Clarke landed in Uriah Heep. Hiseman later teamed up with Gary Moore, Don Airey and Neil Murray to form the jazz rock fusion supergroup Colosseum II, which sonically had practically nothing in common with the original Colosseum. In 1994, Colosseum reunited in exactly the same lineup that last played together on the “Daughter of Time” tour.
Review by: Peter Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. Rope Ladder to the Moon (9:43)
2. Walking in the Park (8:21)
3. Skelington (14:52)
4. Tanglewood ’63 (10:12)
5. Encore…Stormy Monday Blues (7:29)
6. Lost Angeles (15:43)
7. I Can’t Live Without You (7:28) [Bonus track on the later CD version]
Colosseum:
Chris Farlowe – lead vocals
Dave “Clem” Clempson, guitar, backing vocals
Mark Clarke – bass guitar, backing vocals
Dave Greenslade – organ
Dick Heckstall-Smith – saxophone
Jon Hiseman – drums
